Latvia currently has the longest ongoing non-qualification streak at ESC (alongside Georgia) having now failed to make the cut for 6 consecutive contests (and really, Sudden Lights deserved last year and we collectively failed them). So, when it comes to Supernova nowadays my main concern isn’t really re: does Latvia have an ESC-winning song or a Top 10 contender as much as, are we breaking the streak? The answer is once again…I’m not sure. Since their last placement in 2017, Latvia’s tried to come at this from a number of different angles – some more successful than others – but nothing has stuck the landing. Some years, the song was there but the support wasn’t (2017, 2023), while other years (2019, 2022) the national delegation had pretty much nothing to work with. And since this is a Samanta Tina stan website, we won’t talk about 2021 or what could have been in 2020.
To be fair, I’m also not sure what I was expecting from this lineup. I obviously knew Agnese Rakovska coming in, and while I personally like her song, I don’t think it is particularly competitive unfortunately, and I knew of Dons, who is one of the most famous artists in Latvia whose participation had been in the cards for some time. The reaction in the fandom bubble points in the direction of the latter walking this national final (which, to be fair, was to be expected) but does he actually have a shot at ESC glory? Are there any other options? Let’s take a look at the tracks that stood out to us.
There’s a beat here and there’s also a vocal, and while the song walks a fine line between outré and novelty in places (I’m curious to see how the staging is going to toe the line in that sense), it feels like an overall winning, fun, interesting option that could do decently well at ESC especially if we’re a bit short on male bops (which seems to have stalled as an ESC subgenre since Luca Hänni and She Got Me in 2019). For what it is, I could also see this open its semifinal in Malmö, which might also enhance qualification odds if everything goes smoothly. I don’t think this is going to win, but I find it an encouraging sign that it made the cut in the first place, and I will probably be adding it to my own playlist.
Disaster bop alert! This is a deceptively hard song to sing (lots of modulations in terms of tempo, chest voice to mix, and some of the harmonies), so I sort of cannot wait to watch the live to see what happens. I do really like the composition/production, and the beat hits even if the lyrics are a bit of an afterthought (“Just play the game, I promise I will make you shine/Don’t be afraid, there’s no way you can cross the line” just sounds a bit dodgy to me and it doesn’t quite fit the pre-chorus) but I’m sensing Go Girl Give Us Nothing vibes from Avéi which could theoretically work if everything else is flawless and she looks fierce. We’ll see. I also don’t think this is winning, to be honest, but I quite like it for what it is.
This is realistically taking it easily and in a way, I get it. It feels important as a pared back piano ballad (the opening bar really reminds me of Praying by Kesha), it creates a certain atmosphere of sadness and longing, he’s famous and well-liked, and he’s got a beautiful bald head. It won’t be an undeserving winner, let’s be clear – it’s quality. It ultimately just doesn’t quite take me where it clearly wants to, even if the orchestration builds nicely and the backup singers manage to do a lot of heavy lifting, and it’s just really because the melody is a solid B+ and it fumbles that final leap ever so slightly. The good news is that I do see potentially qualifying at ESC especially if it it staged impactfully (the music video seems to suggest there’s a concept behind it), but I wouldn’t say it is a done deal. It’s got France and potentially Italy also doing what it is trying to do, and they might realistically end up doing it a bit better. That’s always the risk with sad boy ballads especially in particularly oversaturated years (see 2022).
ESC Etc. 
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